Abstract
Background: In Tigray region of Ethiopia there is high rate of malnutrition which is severely affecting productivity of households. Cultivation of edible mushrooms can help to diversify income and mitigate malnutrition in the region. Aim: A laboratory experiment was carried out at Aksum University, northern Ethiopia aimed at evaluating the yield and yield attributes response of oyster mushroom to five types of substrates namely cotton seed hull, teff straw, barley straw, sesame stalk and sawdust. Methods: The experiment was set up in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Results: Findings of the experiment revealed that the type of substrate significantly (P≤0.05) affected days to mycelium invasion, days to pinhead formation, days to fruiting bodies formation and yield of Pleurotus ostreatus. Cotton seed hull was fastest in days to mycelium invasion with 15.66 days although in statistically parity with teff straw, barley straw and sesame stalk. Besides, cotton seed hull gave shortest days to pinhead formation, and days to fruiting bodies formation with 20.33 and 22.33 days respectively. The highest yield of 2170.33 gm kg-1 of substrate was obtained at cotton seed hull followed by barley straw which gave 1486.90 gm kg-1 of substrate and Teff straw which gave 1264.74 gm kg-1 of substrate. Conclusion: The experiment highlighted that cotton seed hull and barley straw can be used for mushroom production in the study area.
Highlights
Worldwide, malnutrition is an underlying cause for deaths of more than 3.5 million children under the age of 5 each year [1]
The experiment highlighted that cotton seed hull and barley straw can be used for mushroom production in the study area
According to a study [19], the difference in the length of days taken to complete mycelium running of oyster mushroom on different substrates might be due to a variation in the chemical composition and the C: N ratio of substrates
Summary
Malnutrition is an underlying cause for deaths of more than 3.5 million children under the age of 5 each year [1]. About 178 million children around the world are stunted with 90% lives in 36 countries including Ethiopia [2]. In Tigray region of Ethiopia there is high rate of malnutrition which is severely affecting productivity of households. Cultivation of edible mushrooms can help to diversify income and mitigate malnutrition in the region
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